I used to work for Disney. I’m not sure how many of you knew that. I was in the Television Animation Division, and I worked on projects like Teamo Supremo, Kim Possible, Lilo and Stitch: The Series, Dave the Barbarian, and Fillmore. It was an amazing time for me as an animation artist. Walking around the studio lot and seeing the influence that Walt Disney himself had on every aspect of his studio. When I started at Lucasfilm I saw that same attention to detail everywhere around me, and it all came directly from George.

Over the years that I have worked at Lucasfilm, I have been fortunate to work with Disney again, by participating in Star Wars Weekends in Orlando. It’s a yearly celebration of Star Wars that takes place at Disney World and it always leaves me impressed. The entire team that works on the event loves Star Wars and has always shown the greatest respect for it. The commitment to quality is always there, whether it’s in the live performances or the details in the costumed characters. They want to get Star Wars right, and they always do. Star Wars and Disney work well together. I’m sure anyone that has gone to Star Wars Weekends would agree.

I think this is an incredibly exciting time for all of us. I am being reunited with old friends of mine from my Disney days and getting ready, like all of you, for Episodes VII, VIII, and IX. When Revenge of the Sith was over, I found myself in the incredible position of carrying the torch forward. Now I can see the incredibly bright light that is the future of Star Wars. For those of you who are fans of The Clone Wars, do not worry. We have many stories left to tell, and every one of them came directly from George himself. Right down to the last one, where that thing with Ahsoka happens…

Thanks to George, Star Wars truly will be forever. Now, let’s make the jump to hyperspace. Things are gonna get awesome!

__________________

I bet your parents taught you that you mean something that you're here for a reason.
My parents taught me a different lesson, dying in the gutter for no reason at all.
They taught me the world only makes sense if you force it to.

I bet your parents taught you that you mean something that you're here for a reason.
My parents taught me a different lesson, dying in the gutter for no reason at all.
They taught me the world only makes sense if you force it to.

For every joke in the Detours trailer that actually made me laugh, there were at least four more that made me go

Agreed.

__________________

I bet your parents taught you that you mean something that you're here for a reason.
My parents taught me a different lesson, dying in the gutter for no reason at all.
They taught me the world only makes sense if you force it to.

Today, Cartoon Network released information about their programming lineup for the 2013-2014 season. While the network did announce three animated shorts called The Yoda Chronicles, there is no mention of Star Wars: The Clone Wars anywhere in the press release. It's possible that this is the first concrete indication that The Clone Wars will move to Disney's airwaves after Season 5 concludes in the spring.

Cartoon Network's omission of one of its highest-performing animated series led to renewed discussion about the show possibly moving from the network to rival kids' channel Disney XD. Even before Disney's $4 billion purchase of Lucasfilm had closed, fans were speculating that such a change was inevitable. How long would Disney allow its intellectual property to generate revenue for Cartoon Network, a subsidiary of Time Warner's Turner Broadcasting System, when it owned a channel that competed with Cartoon Network? Such a move would certainly increase the consolidation of Star Wars content under the Disney umbrella. (That centralization is likely to continue in a few years: Disney is widely expected to acquire the theatrical, nontheatrical, and home video distribution rights for the first six films from 20th Century Fox.)

There are other possibilities. The "returning series/specials" list, where The Clone Wars would have appeared, excludes most of Cartoon Network's Saturday morning shows (not just TCW) and consists mostly of its primetime programming. However, the list does include Beyblade: Metal Fury, which currently airs on Saturdays like The Clone Wars.

Another explanation is that The Clone Wars will end after Season 5, although given how much work has gone into Season 6, that seems unlikely.

__________________

I bet your parents taught you that you mean something that you're here for a reason.
My parents taught me a different lesson, dying in the gutter for no reason at all.
They taught me the world only makes sense if you force it to.

I’ve been incredibly public with my anxiety over a lack of an announcement concerning the sixth season of The Clone Wars. Because of my public concern, I’ve been getting messages pointing me to hopeful signs.

This evening I was directed to this Facebook posting on the Everything Star Wars fanpage that purports to be a communication between Patrick, the admin of the Facebook page, and a customer service representative of Disney XD concerning the fate of The Clone Wars. Here is the contents of that letter:

Hey Patrick,

Thank you for your e-mail. Here @ Disney XD, it is always a pleasure to hear from our cool fans and to address any questions they may have.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is expected to move to Disney XD sometime in 2013 due to the purchase of Lucasfilm by Disney. Currently, we do not have a date for the show to air on our network. As soon as we do, it will be advertised on our website.

I hope this information helps.

If you have any further questions, concerns, or comments, please feel free to contact us by e-mail or toll free at 1-800-893-4862. A Customer Care Representative is available to take your call Monday through Friday from 9am to 9pm EST, and Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 5pm EST.

Take care,

Brandon @ Family

I haven’t been able to verify this. I understand it’s after hours, but I can’t even get that 800 number to ring. Google says it’s a number for Disney Junior in Canada, which makes it at least slightly legitimate. Messages to the admin of the Facebook page for confirmation have thus far gone unanswered.

But even if this message did get confirmed, it’s no confirmation of the fate of The Clone Wars. What are the chances some random Customer Service Representative has inside knowledge about the inner-workings of Disney’s overall strategy for the Star Wars brand. This could be a guy who thinks he knows what’s going on and really doesn’t.

Another person directed me to Eric Goldman’s interview with Dave Filoni about working on a trailer for The Clone Wars, presumably for Season Six.

IGN: And all there had been at that point were quick clips shown at conventions earlier that summer for her to even base the unmasked look on.

Filoni: That’s absolutely right. Hey, never question the ability of our fans to catch the details. The smallest thing, the smallest problems — if a padawan braid is on the wrong side of the head in one shot, for one frame, they will catch it. We were just watching a trailer of something we’re going to put out for Clone Wars, and I was like, “Oh, see that there? That would give something away.” They’re like, “But it’s two frames!” I’m like, “No. No, trust me. They’ll see it. The fans will see it. They know. The Star Wars fans are the best, most accurate. They will find it out.” And I love it.

And while that certainly indicates they are working on the next season, but that isn’t exactly breaking news. We’ve known this. By all accounts they’re working on Season Seven or even Eight. That was never the issue. The issue is that there has been no confirmation that Season Six is going to air on television. Cartoon Network has it absent of its lineup and Disney has remained mum on plans.

So, while these signs might seem hopeful, they are far from confirmation of any sort.

When there is confirmation in an official capacity, I will be the first to shout from the hilltops.

__________________

I bet your parents taught you that you mean something that you're here for a reason.
My parents taught me a different lesson, dying in the gutter for no reason at all.
They taught me the world only makes sense if you force it to.

It's been a tough couple of weeks for fans of recent or would-be current Star Wars content, as word has spread about the end of many projects. First came the announcement that Star Wars: The Clone Wars was ending. That announcement also included the shelving of Star Wars: Detours, as Lucasfilm appeared to be stopping work on most projects that were being produced before Disney bought them, as the company gears up for Episode VII and many other new Star Wars films.

Then came yesterday's news that LucasArts was shifting to licensed games and that Star Wars: 1313 would likely not be completed, which furthered the feeling that a lot of doors were being shut, even while new ones were opening.

In the midst of this, Lucasfilm has teased that a new Star Wars animated series is in the works, but we also heard about layoffs at Lucasfilm Animation, in the wake of The Clone Wars and Detours ceasing production, while major layoffs occurred yesterday at LucasArts. So would any of the current creators of Star Wars content be involved going forward?

On the animation side at least, the answer is yes, thankfully. In his first interview since the Clone Wars announcement was made, that show's supervising director, Dave Filoni, spoke to our friends at RebelForceRadio.com for an interview going live on Friday, and reveals that he is staying at Lucasfilm Animation and will be involved with the next Star Wars animated series.

During the interview, Filoni is asked if he’ll continue with Star Wars animation, and replies, “Well, that’s my plan!”

Filoni notes that Star Wars is “obviously important to me and I’ve had a very great time working here. I’ve really helped build the animation division from when I got here and there were only a handful of people.”

Regarding recent events, he remarks, “It’s a function of our industry… It’s not my favorite part. You can luckily grow things and bring on many talented people, but there become times when you have to shrink things as well. We happen to be in one of those times right now, but that just paves the way, hopefully, for new things and new creativity in the future.”

Filoni goes on to explain, “At this point, I am involved in some early production discussions and exploration of what we’ll be doing with Star Wars animation in the future, which is really exciting for me and I have some friendly faces around me, of course, that are helping me on the project. So it’s a transition time, as I’ve said before, and I think it will lead to an exciting time and hopefully I’ll see things grow again.”

Filoni couldn't say much more about it, including what the show will focus on or when we'd see it. But if you're a fan of The Clone Wars, as I am, this is great news. Filoni came to Lucasfilm a huge Star Wars fan and his love for the series is obvious watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which has delivered some terrific Star Wars stories through the years. It's great to learn he will still be able to play in that world moving forward.

And yeah, I'll say it... It also has me hoping that, if this series takes place after The Clone Wars in the timeline, Filoni could use it to at least touch upon plotlines and characters he established in that series.

Although I do like Clone Wars, and would want it to continue I can enjoy the concept of a new series. If they are making a new show, I hope it would be an Ahsoka Tano spin-off set in the Rebellion/Empire era where she is now an agent of the Rebel Alliance. The show would be kinda following the same tone set by the last episodes of Clone Wars and would have Ahsoka help Luke from afaror even better have a Starkiller vs Ahsoka episode.

Really doesn't look real, looks like someone combined the Clone Wars with 1313 and spit this out. "Skye Bonteri" as in Lux Bonteri? Not to mention "Supreme Chancellor" Mon Mothma, if I recall the only Supreme Chancellor was Palpatine after he received his emergency powers. If Disney is going to make it's move it's going to be something different than what we've gotten and I doubt it's going to include any reference to either of the canceled projects to avoid reopening a healing wound amongst fans.

Not to mention Reclamation is a pretty non-Disneyesque title.

Anyway I'm not totally upset the Clone Wars is over. I really hope someone tells Filoni there are ways to build suspense without dragging out a strong story with weak filler. Barris Ofee had great potential, Maul was much better than in the films, and Tarkin was always fun but there was just so much useless crap! Hopefully some of the writers from the scrapped Avengers Earths Mightiest Heroes can help show Filoni how you successfully do season spanning story arcs.

Supervising director Dave Filoni is putting finishing touches on never-before-seen story arcs and also has some sage wisdom for J.J. Abrams.

There are still some battles to be fought in The Clone Wars.

The Star Wars animated series ended its run on Cartoon Network after five seasons of bringing new characters — and reintroducing some old favorites — into the franchise's expansive mythos.

But it's not done yet: Supervising director Dave Filoni is heading up the completion of a few story arcs that were slated for production before Lucasfilm announced in March that it was taking its animation slate in a new direction following its purchase by Disney.

"There are questions that are pretty big as far as it comes with the Clone Wars and things that people have wanted to know," Filoni says. "They're just these concepts just hanging out there, and finally we're going to deal with them."

MORE: 'Return of the Jedi' celebrates 30 years

One of the arcs stars Jedi Master Plo Koon (voiced by James Arnold Taylor), who finds a lost lightsaber while on a mission on a sandstorm-laden planet with a platoon of clone troopers. It's the beginning of a mystery, and one that will make the Jedi question their role in the Clone Wars and the universe itself, according to Filoni.

"The Jedi have been fighting a war with an army that was commissioned by one of their own, Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas," he says. "But who was Sifo-Dyas, and what happened to him? The dark lord of the Sith has woven an intricate web to ensnare the Jedi, but it is not full-proof and sometimes a small clue, and a bit of chance, can lead to the unraveling of the best-laid plans."

While it's yet to be announced when and where these Clone Wars episodes will air, Filoni's team is coming close to putting final touches on the animation.

"It's bittersweet in some ways for the members of the team but we're all pretty excited about what we have coming back," he says. "They are easily some of the best things we were able to do, and I think we're all glad we were able to finish them."

The last set of episodes that aired on Cartoon Network were also some of Filoni's favorites, which ended with Anakin Skywalker's apprentice, young Ahsoka Tano, stepping away from the Jedi order completely and walking off into the sunset after being framed for a crime she didn't commit.

The last season finale of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" ended with young Ahsoka Tano walking away from the Jedi order.(Photo: Lucasfilm)
"One of the goals I always had for her was to have her become the one that walks away," Filoni explains, "the one that realizes that you have the left and the right of things, you have the Separatists, you have the Republic, and at the end of the day you can make a decision to say, 'This is ridiculous. I'm not for this. Both sides are wrong and I see it.'

"That's a pretty brave choice for her to make, and that's a statement about how Anakin trained her and even Obi-Wan's influence on her that she takes this middle path as a way to giving people another option."

Her departure is a huge disappointment for Anakin, and his "padawan" not even reaching the status of Jedi Knight is "problematic," Filoni says, "especially when it comes to a lot of details we later learn about Anakin as far as he's not a part of the council (and) he's not a master himself."

Even though she was created for a TV series, Ahsoka (voiced by Ashley Eckstein) was always meant to fit in the overall saga that George Lucas. Filoni found that she had her critics at first, yet what he was really proud of is how she earned her place and was a favorite for the younger generation of Star Wars fans.

Because Ahsoka never appeared in the original Star Wars movie trilogy or even in the last prequel Episode III: Revenge of the Sith — Clone Wars takes place between the movies Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Episode III, which sees Anakin turn into Darth Vader — fans wondered what her ultimate fate would be and if they'd ever see it in the cartoon. (Now, it's even possible that she could show up in director J.J. Abrams' Episode VII if she wasn't wiped out with the rest of the Jedi when "Order 66" came down.)

"A lot of people want more closure with her, and that's always been curious to me since we aired that episode. It seems to imply that, I hate to say it, but short of her dying they don't feel like there's going to be any kind of closure for that character," Filoni says with a laugh.

"Just the fact that people want to know, frankly, is pretty exciting. I'm sure some people out there are like, 'Well, the kid's gone. Fine.' But there are a lot of people who I've talked to who are just like, 'What happens next? I have to know!' And I'm like, 'Well, I wanted to know a lot of things, too, growing up, and I had to wait.' It's a fun thing at this point."

While the future of Clone Wars is a bit hazy, it's less so for Filoni: He will be continuing on at Lucasfilm "for the foreseeable future" with responsibilities primarily in the animation realm, he says. Filoni is also respected outside of the company because of his respect for the stories he loved as a child raised on the original trilogy.

"I'm able to give a lot back to fans because I'm a big fan myself and I know how important it is to feel that the people behind these things really care about it, and I do. The fans have realized that about me," Filoni says.

And at Lucasfilm, he adds, "what I'd like to do is take whatever I learned and, like you're supposed to, pass on your experiences and knowledge you've gained. You want to help more generations of people as they come to this and it's a heavy burden. I know as well as anybody what it's like to work in the universe of Star Wars."

As far as the movies go, Abrams will be carrying the creative weight next, and while he might not need Filoni's advice, the Star Trek Into Darkness director would be best served by embracing the fact that he knows what makes Star Wars tick and taking the opportunity to do innovative stuff with the galaxy and its characters.

"That's kind of what we have that's special, because we grew up with it," Filoni says, "and if there's one thing I learned from George it's that you take that and you channel it forward into new exciting things the audience didn't know possible, because that's what Star Wars always did — it always moved forward."

Whether or not he becomes involved with the slate of Star Wars movies that Lucasfilm and Disney are planning, Filoni is just excited they're coming back to the big screen, although the small screen for him hasn't been too bad either.

"The idea that I'll get to go to a Star Wars movie and sit down and be like, 'Wow, here it is again,' that's pretty exciting for me personally," he says. "I can't wait to see what everybody dreams up."

__________________

I bet your parents taught you that you mean something that you're here for a reason.
My parents taught me a different lesson, dying in the gutter for no reason at all.
They taught me the world only makes sense if you force it to.

Initially I wasn't a fan of TCW. Probably due to the fact that I detested the PT (and still do) so anything that was set within them films was given a wide birth. But I must admit, through curiosity, I have watched some of them. Some have been good (Cad Bane, DeathWatch, etc) some bad (Mortis, Mauls return) IMO. The quality has been slowly improving as the series has progressed. But it's all a little too late I'm afraid. The Sifo-Dyas story looks to have potential but should been done ages ago. I must (begrudgingly) admit its a shame but things have moved on. Lets hope IF there's a new cartoon set in the post Jedi SW universe, these people will be involved?

Interesting that he's drawing TIE fighters. I wonder if he's working on something set between episodes V and VI, or will we still see TIE's after the fall of the Empire...

The guy at IGN is saying he and others think it'll be post-ROTJ in order to build towards the new film, but I doubt it as the new film is 2015 so they would barely get a season out before the first movie. Like you I think it will be set between ANH and ESB, which should be awesome, we might see Hoth and the bounty hunter on Ord Mantel!

__________________"Now this life is etched in black but I wont be looking back, the rain washed out the tracks, I'll never find again"

If set between ANH and ESB hopefully we'll get to see the Corrilean Imperial Ship building yards bought to life!! Fantastic. But I was lead to believe any new animated series would bridge the gap between Jedi and Episode VII? But as you say, they would barely have enough time to get 1 series out. I really can't see what the point of a series set within the OT would achieve though? It would be brilliant don't get me wrong, but I thought the good ship Star Wars was all geared toward the Sequel Trilogy now?

Well, i think it all depends which solo movies they go for though. If they are indeed planning on making Han Solo or Jabba films, it's possible they could be making a tv show set around episodes IV or V, or even V and VI, who knows.

Personally, i'd love to see something set between V and VI

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“There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.” Goethe

If Jack Bauer joined the Rebel Alliance, 24 hours later there would be no Empire :p